($90) Medium ruby-red. Wild nose combines black raspberry, blackberry, coffee bean, licorice, leather and smoked meat, along with hints of menthol and smoky oak. Then almost surprisingly lush and sweet in the middle palate, with ripe acids giving shape to the sauvage blackcurrant and game flavors. Turns more austere on the back end, finishing with firm-edged tannins and very good length. Philip Togni told me he thinned the vines heavily in 2005 and ultimately brought in less crop than he did in 2006 or 2007. He noted that he always tells his clients to wait at least five years to try his wines but that "we expect the 2005 to improve in bottle for 20 years."

Professional content appears courtesy of Vinfolio

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is a more closed and restrained style of wine, with firm tannins, Bordeaux-like austerity, but dense ruby/purple with notes of menthol, black currant liqueur, coffee, and a hint of olive. The wine is full-bodied, youthful, tannic, and a promising candidate for long-term cellaring. In fact this kind of vintage at Togni generally means laying the wine away for at least a decade, which is always good advice here. This may be a 30- to 40-year Togni Cabernet Sauvignon.

Professional content appears courtesy of Vinfolio

Tasting beautifully now at six years old, the palate is balanced and keenly focused with black cherry, currant and violet. It pulls off the neat trick of being elegant and primal at the same time.

Professional content appears courtesy of Vinfolio

It is showing a deep cassis nose with shadings of salted Spanish olives, grilled Argentine beef and crumbled French lavender. The palate when first opened is very tightly wound with strongly focused acidity and a leanness that is notable even by Philip's standards. Now the mouth has fleshed out to show much more accessibility. Sculpted blackberry, graphite, grilled meats, violets, plums and an exquisite chemistry of strength and suppleness. The finish is tactile smoky mole, espresso and blackberry. Those who take a position in this wine based on my recommendation should know that it needs patience without compromise.

Professional content appears courtesy of Vinfolio